12-year-old Sault boy cutting his long locks for charity

The Sault’s Everett Varcoe — a 12-year-old Gr. 7 student in Korah Collegiate’s Gr. 7 to 12 program — will soon be cutting his long hair for two good causes.

For Varcoe, the haircut is a big emotional move.

“I started growing my hair long six years ago. I made a deal with my dad that if I didn’t cut my hair he wouldn't cut off his beard. After that, he died and I haven’t cut it since,” Varcoe told SooToday.

His father Jimmy Varcoe died in 2018.

Though Varcoe did not pass away at ARCH, Everett and mother Shawna Mornix received grief counselling through the hospice.

“It was pretty useful. It helped me get into a better mental state,” Varcoe said of the support he received at ARCH.

The two remain grateful for that help and out of support for her son’s decision to exchange his long hair for a buzz cut, Mornix is currently raising funds for the hospice and will continue to do so until Jan. 5.

That’s the day when Varcoe will be having his hair cut by local hair stylist Brittany Kennedy of Beauty by BK.

Mornix set an original fundraising goal of $500 before raising it to $1,500.

$1,640 had been raised as of Thursday Dec. 28.

Varcoe said he feels like he’s doing something helpful for the community through his haircut and his mother’s fundraising efforts.

“We would like the money to go to the grief counselling service at ARCH. We support that. We were able to get help from them. It’s important for me, after what they gave us in our group grief counselling and in our individualized counselling, that we give back to them for the support that they gave us,” Mornix said.

Varcoe said he decided to get a buzz cut and raise money for ARCH a few weeks ago. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and after my brother got a buzz cut I finally got the courage to do it,” Varcoe said, adding his schoolmates at Korah support him in his desire to change to a new look.

After receiving his haircut Jan. 5, Varcoe will also be donating his locks to Wigs For Kids Canada.

Wigs For Kids Canada makes wigs for people 18 years of age or younger who are experiencing hair loss as a result of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, alopecia, burns and other medical reasons.

“My hair would have just gone to waste if I didn’t donate it so I want to help people with cancer,” Varcoe said.

“I’m pretty proud of him. I think it's pretty great and I’m excited to see the change in his appearance and see what he looks like under all this hair,” Mornix said with a chuckle.

“Everett is a giving person,” she said.

Mornix will be accepting funds for ARCH by electronic fund transfers through her email address and is also willing to collect donated funds in person until Jan. 5.